Special Report on Mauna Kea

Whoops! This almost slipped my mind!

Mauna Kea volcano on the big island of Hawaii has been jolted by some large and somewhat deep earthquakes just NW of the summit. The below snapshot from HVO (Hawaii Volcano Observatory to whom the picture is copyrighted , details the ongoing volcanic swarm below the tallest volcano on Hawaii.

Another image taken from Google Earth with the USGS KMZ layer installed shows a more detailed picture (below)

Mauna Kea does not have a record of ever having erupted during historical time and shows glacial moraines. The last known eruption occurred during the early holocene.

Many volcanologists including John Seach state that Mauna Kea is NOT a dead volcano, and assertively state that it WILL erupt in the future due to remnant magma chambers from when it was young and active. So the current swarm isn't entirely unusual, but it does appear a bit ominous.

The big island of Hawaii is one of the most volcanically active regions on the planet. Hualalai volcano last erupted in 1801 producing a voluminous lava flow that reached the sea and buried towns. Mauna Loa (the 2nd highest by a margin of only 35m) volcano last erupted in 1984 and was one of the largest eruptions in Hawaii's history, save for Kiluea which has been active since 1983 and in continuous eruption ever since, with no signs of slowing down.

If Mauna Kea should erupt, it will likely produce a flank cinder cone, and pahoehoe lava flows. Given the placement and distribution of the current quake swarm (which continues today), I would suspect this is the most likely possibility. Farmlands, and the nearby towns of Waimea and Kamuela would conceivably lie in the path of a pahoehoe flow if it ends up being a large one.

Hawaii is no stranger to volcanic destruction, which was the case recently with the town of Kalapana which was literally paved over by Kiluea. Mauna Loa caused widespread damage to towns and roads when it last erupted. Keep your eyes peeled on this one! An eruption is not considered imminent at this time, and the quakes at Mauna Kea are some 18KM deep at this time. If they get shallower, it might be time to get concerned... or get the cameras ready!

Mt. Hood Quakes

There are some ticking time bombs in the cascade range we truly wish would never awaken. From Shasta, to Hood, to Ranier, all of these could easily dwarf the eruption of Mt. St Helens given the right circumstances. Indeed in the past couple of weeks, some quakes have come mighty close, and even occurred under these sleeping giants.

Mt. Hood is one of the most historically active volcanoes in the Cascades, last having erupted in the 19th century. Hood is especially dangerous (and tricky to monitor) as are a lot of the cascades volcanoes due to its age and structural weakness. Being a very high volcano, ice and the placement/contraction of glaciers changes the chemical structure of the lavas over time, creating a sort of "lava rot". Oxidization of the adesite/dacite composition leads to occasional avalanches and collapses, similar to what was witnessed at St Helens in 1980, when structural weakness combined with doming of the NNW face combined to create a catastrophic failure of the volcanoes structure.

Hood has had several very minor eruptions as its most recent activity, but has otherwise been relatively quiet save for some recent earthquake activity. On Oct 20, two shallow 1.2-1.3 magnitude quakes occurred on its NNW face. The reason cascades volcanoes are tricky to monitor, is that sometimes these quakes are not tectonic or magmatic at all, rather they can be anything from avalanches, to snow/ice movement, to a simple release of deep steam. In this case, the quakes appear to be magmatic in nature, purely because of the location and depth... but I am NOT a seismologist so do not take my word for it.

Earlier last week, large quakes (mag 4.0 and less) occurred near Mount Rainier to the West of the summit. This does in fact appear to be magmatic, but again, a scientist should weigh in on this. Typically however, magma movement goes in cycles that generate many small harmonic tremors, which have not occurred at Rainier, so this could be purely tectonic too. Time will tell. Rainier is probably the most dangerous volcano in the Western USA, so it behooves us all to stay alert to its activities. Estimates of an eruption, pyroclastic flow, or lahar say that if this occurs at Rainier, people will not have enough time to get out of the way and hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of lives would be at risk. So scientists monitor its seismicity in order to even attempt to predict an eruption.

Some volcanoes give us warnings, as Nevado del Ruiz in Columbia (and unfortunately for the Columbians, these warnings are sometimes ignored... a mistake they won't be repeating soon!). In 1985, scientists detected volcanic tremor and a type of quake that had not been previously identified, called a "Long Period Event" or LPE. This directly preceded a catastrophic eruption that killed many, and displaced hundreds. Some scientists were on the mountain at the time of the eruption and ended up losing their lives.

Eruption prediction is probably never going to be even as close as predicting the weather, especially in our lifetimes. But every volcano is different, and some are more obvious than others. Some however, give very little warning before eruption, as was the case in Chile with Chaiten volcano, which had not erupted for over 8,000 years. Nabro volcano in Eritrea erupted a couple months ago, never having shown any historical activity whatsoever. These eruptions were preceded by large quakes (mag 5.0 and greater), and erupted only hours later.

Keeping track of earthquakes as they relate to volcanoes is a fun hobby, and who knows? It might be the hobby that ends up saving lives. Stay tuned!

The Thrill of Eco Tourism

I visited my first volcano when I was 16. My family had taken a trip to Maui, where I got my first glimpse of Haleakala volcano (which has not had an eruption since the 18th century), and was immediately captivated by the sheer beauty of a barren moonscape dotted with craters. It turned me into a major volcano geek.

Years later I returned to Hawaii to go on an ultimate volcano adventure. My girlfriend and I had basically blown every cent on this adventure but it was well worth it. We saw Diamond Head crater in Honolulu, and then took a small plane over to the big island where we toured Kiluea. We first stopped at the area between Kiluea and Mauna Loa, where we saw the steam vents and fumeroles that were dotted amongst the forest. It was a bizarre landscape. You could really feel the volcano underneath your feet, smell it, and feel the heat from the steam vents.

We made our way to the summit of Kiluea at Halema'uma'u crater, and witnessed the most spectacular active caldera we'd ever seen. We went to the rim of Kiluea'iki (little Kiluea crater) and saw the seemingly fresh floor covered in still degassing/steaming lavas from a 1960's eruption that produced a spectacular hillside cinder cone.

We then made our way down to the town of Kalipana, which was absolutely paved over by a flow during the 1980's-90's. The black sand beach was particularly nice. To the northwest of the black sands beach, we witnessed new land being born. A process as old as the planet itself, and we got so close we could feel the heat of the lavas hitting the ocean, and the sound of the steam hissing off the molten river of rock. Occasional explosions at night put fireworks to shame. The power!

Topping it off, we took our first skydiving lesson over Honolulu. As I breathed deeply in the clouds, I was awestruck by the eroding volcanic landscape I could see so clearly from the sky. This planet is old, and new at the same time. The land is always changing in Hawaii, and no two visits will show you the same place, especially on the Big Island. This was the beginning of a major obsession.

Following Hawaii, I went on a road trip north to Oregon through California, stopping at Lassen, The Geysers, Shasta (did not know they had caverns there, that was a treat), Belknap crater, and finally, Crater Lake. Below is a nice panorama of Crater Lake taken on what had to be the most beautiful clear day I have ever seen. The photo, while nice, does NOT do the place justice. The majesty of Crater Lake renewed in me a sense of awe, and the addiction to volcano eco tourism swelled. Now I can't even think of visiting a vacation destination without making a detour towards a volcano. There is simply no substitute for being there. Smelling the air, the lavas, feeling the low rumble of magma beneath your feet, knowing that what lurks below is powerful, ancient, and constant.

If you've never visited one of these beasts, let me tell you, even as an Atheist, it is a spiritual moment. You can really feel the connection with the past and understand ancient man and his reverence for the powerful forces of nature. Sun and Volcano worship was the beginning of deities, and it is never so apparent than when you're staring something in the face that is more powerful than anything on the planet. It baffles me as to why we make up stories, when its plain to see... Volcanoes and the Sun are responsible for our existence. And for that, you can call me a volcano worshiper!

Earthquake "swarm" near Lavic Lake, California

Within the last few days, there have been several large (2.0-4.0) and very shallow (2km-1km) quakes hitting the Lavic Lake/Amboy Crater region in Southern California. While the area does lie on a tectonic fault position near the San Andreas faultline, the placement and depth of the quakes could very well mean that magma is on the move, and quite near the surface. The quakes are clustered in a very concentrated area, and are very near to past volcanic activity such as Lavic Lake, Amboy Crater, and more in the region. The mountains near the quake center are very old volcanoes, so it would not be entirely surprising if indeed there was dike intrusion or magma movement near the surface... definitely something to keep an eye on!

Below is an image from Google Earth, with the real time USGS Quake overlay.

You can see pretty clearly here that these are shallow, strong quakes. While this could easily be purely tectonic in nature, it is worrisome that these quakes are so very near to past volcanism in the region, and the quakes certainly line up between Amboy and Lavic Lake.

I'll update this post should anything new develop. In the meantime, this area is not populated, save for some military operations, and is probably not a danger to any major city. So there is no real reason for panic or concern. If an eruption does occur in this area, it will likely be nothing more than scientifically and historically interesting. Nothing like the movie "Volcano" where one erupted in the middle of Los Angeles!

Other interesting seismicity in California that piques my interest is the ongoing earthquake swarms in the Geysers Geothermal Field in Northern California on the edge of the Clear Lake volcanic field. Research indicates these quakes are most likely a result of geothermal development in the area (this being one of the largest geothermal plants in the world), and more than likely has nothing to do with magma movement. Scientists theorize that Clear Lake contains an old silicic magma chamber, detached from the mantle, that is slowly cooling, but provides plenty of renewable thermal energy to power the plants. Locals have complained that it makes the region highly unstable, and new drilling has ceased.

Also in California, the Ubehebe Craters area has shown in the last week that it is also seismically active, with many small quakes occurring just under one of the eastern cones in the field. This area last erupted around 6000 years ago, with layers of tephra covering some ancient native American artifacts. But as Chaiten volcano in Chile demonstrated in 2008, and Nabro volcano in Eritrea (which is an ongoing eruption last I checked!), long dormant volcanoes can easily wake up given the right circumstances. Indeed, this was witnessed recently, and in the 1940's when a volcano in Mexico grew out of a farmer's cornfield to become the Paricutin volcano in the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field.

If indeed the activity near Lavic Lake does result in a volcanic eruption, the event will likely be quite similar to the Paricutin eruption, producing a monogenetic volcanic cinder cone not unlike Amboy or the vents at Lavic Lake. This means that an eruption, if it does occur, will produce one or two cones, and probably never erupt again in the same spot, as monogenetic cinder cones do not repeat their eruptive cycles due to the nature of the magma pocket that briefly feeds them.

Stay tuned, and stay alert!

Ongoing noteworthy eruptions - October

Nabro Volcano - Eritrea

This from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program:

"According to NASA's Earth Observatory, satellite images of Nabro acquired on 28 September showed heat from the vent in the central crater, and from an area 1.3 km S of the vent that indicated an active lava flow. A small and diffuse plume rose from the vent. A region of seemingly thicker black ash (that completely covered the sparse vegetation) was noted S of the crater and thinner layers of ash (with some areas of visible vegetation) flanked either side of the region." - GVP

Nabro volcano is a prominent stratovolcano in Eritrea, which has not previously erupted in historical time until recently when it had a massive explosion, and lava effusion which resulted in a kilometers long lava flow. Nabro had been previously thought to have ended its eruptive phase, but this now turns out not to be true. Could we be seeing more from this long-dormant volcano in the near future? Satellite images shown on Irish Weather Online seem to suggest the old volcano isn't quite done waking up just yet.

El Hierro Volcano - Canary Islands

The El Hierro unrest is ongoing. This volcano has not erupted since 1793. Over 1,100 volcanic tremors have been detected within the last few days, the largest quake being a 3.8. Ground deformation has continued up to 35mm. Local officials have placed residents on alert, and asked them to stockpile emergency supplies. At this point, the activity seems to be off of the coast, but this can change rapidly if magma races to the surface.

Katla Volcano - Iceland

Amateur volcanologist Jón Frímann has been using his own seismic equipment in conjunction with Icelandic Meteorological websites to report on the volcanoes of Iceland. Recently there has been some speculation on his part about whether an eruption is imminent, as there have been swarms of quakes within Katla's caldera. I personally do not believe an eruption is imminent at this time, as Katla has had minor burps since the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull last year. This volcano IS expected to be the next eruption in Iceland, however they took their eye off of Grimsvötn volcano, and it erupted before Katla. It could indeed be that dike intrusion and ice melt are occurring however. Time will tell here.

Cleveland Volcano (Chuginadak Island) - Alaska

NASA detected thermal anomalies over the growing lava dome, The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported. A slowly growing lava dome (there is an awesome time laspe picture on their page right now) increases the risk of an explosive eruption, but does not necessarily mean one will happen. This has been going on for over a month now.